


Left Alone, Moving Forward

by TheSpaceCoyote



Series: Sugar Baby AU [4]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 15:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14547798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: Jack gets a call from Rhys to come and pick him up from an address Jack has never heard of, leading him to find out part of his boyfriend's past.





	Left Alone, Moving Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Just some sugar baby/sugar daddy Rhack stuff done for a prompt. A little bit more sad here, but enjoy nonetheless!

Jack, admittedly, knew very little about his new boyfriend’s personal life. Then again, he hadn’t exactly spilled his heart out to Rhys about his own past, so perhaps they just hadn’t gotten to that phase yet where they needed to know every little thing about the other. After all, their current arrangement worked pretty well, in Jack’s opinion. They were both super hot, and Jack could provide for each of Rhys’ needs with his wealth while giving the older man the companionship he needed thanks to the isolation imposed by busy schedule. Rhys provided a constant in his often hectic lifestyle, someone he could rely on for a quick fuck or a cuddle or a dinner date to take his mind off of things and enjoy the young man’s warm smile and awkward jokes and sexy body for a good couple of hours.

So when Rhys called Jack, the break in his voice clear even through the slightly crackly connection of the handsfree device clipped to his dashboard, and asked—

“Can you please come and get me?”

—Jack immediately turned the car around from his usual route home and drove as quickly as was legal in the opposite direction.

The address Rhys had given him took him far out into the suburbs surrounding Helios, into a neighborhood of moderately priced houses. Nothing like the mansions from further up on the foothills, but nice enough to house a couple of kids and maybe a dog or two with a comfortable income. He drove slowly, wary of people crossing streets on their evening walks, blinking against the glowing sunset filtering through the branches of the jacarandas that littered the street and sidewalks with little purple petals.

Finally, his GPS informed him he’d arrived at the address. It looked a nice enough house, with a lush, well-maintained lawn and vague Spanish-inspired architecture. The windows glowed with a warm looking light in the rapidly falling twilight. He carefully pulled up to the curb, flicking on his hazard lights as he grabbed his phone and started to text Rhys. Almost immediately after he’d hit  _send_  the door to the house flew open, banging so loudly against the jamb that Jack could hear it muffled through the walls of his car.

Rhys practically ran out the front of the house, making a beeline down the tile pathway directly towards Jack’s car. He unlocked the doors, almost ready to roll down the windows to ask his boyfriend what the hell was going on, but Rhys said nothing before he wrenched the car door open with not a single look behind him.

“ _Drive_.” Was all Rhys said as flopped down into the seat, staring straight ahead with neither a thanks or a kiss for Jack’s trouble. Though he prickled slightly at the bratty treatment, Jack wordlessly put the car into drive, making a U-turn in the street as he continued back the way he’d come.

They drove for awhile in quiet, nearing on the edges of downtown, before Jack’s could no long keep his curiosity and concern at bay.

“So…” He started tentatively, glancing at Rhys out of the corner of his eye whenever the road was clear. “Are you gonna spill why you had me drive across town to pick you up from some random house?”

Rhys was silent for so long, that Jack figured the answer was “no,” so he shrugged and focused back on driving, wondering if he needed to stop by and grab some ice cream or dinner to boost his boyfriend’s mood. To his surprise, however, Rhys finally spoke.

“It wasn’t a random house…” An alarming sniffle. “I…it was my parents’…”

Jack stopped short at the red light, eyes widening as he turned to look at his boyfriend. Rhys was looking down on at where his hands rested in his lap, eyebrows twitching as he dug his teeth into his lip, obviously biting back tears.

“Your parents…” Jack repeated, understanding dawning on him.  _Shit_.

As soon as the light turned green, Jack pulled off the main street and turned down, away from the shops and cafes and down into a smaller, quiet residential road. He carefully pulled up the curb and parked his car, before turning to look at his boyfriend properly.

Rhys had lifted his head, eyes and nose obviously red and swollen from quiet crying as he looked at Jack in confusion.

“Where…what are we doing?”

“I don’t wanna drive and be forced to ignore you when something is seriously messed up.” Jack carefully slid his hand over the console and laced his fingers with Rhys’, the slight flinch away from his touch not escaping his notice. He scowled slightly, rubbing Rhys’ hand with his thumb.

“Tell me. Did they do something to you?”

“I…” Rhys started, his other hand anxiously tucking a lock of disheveled hair behind his ear. His irises were bright, as if he was about to start crying again. Jack had never seen Rhys this vulnerable, this ready to break down and tremble apart right in front of him. It was such a far cry from the usual confident, sarcastic young man that Jack had grown used to he was about ready to drive all the way back and tell Rhys’ parents off, though he still didn’t know exactly  _what_  they had done.

“I…I tried to tell them…” Rhys gave Jack’s hand a tight squeeze, as if to draw energy from the other man’s relative composure. “Not just….not  _just_  about us. About….just…everything…there’s a lot…”

Jack’s heart squeezed.

“They…” Rhys’ shoulders shuddered, as if under a great weight. “T-To put it lightly…they didn’t…”

The tears gathering in Rhys’ eyes finally spilled over, and he pulled his hand from underneath Jack’s grasp to cradle his face. His sobs choked out of him, sounding like they hurt as they filled the suddenly small space of the car.

Rhys dissolved further into crying, his entire body shaking with the force of his tears. Jack felt a lump start to form in the back of his throat as he watched, unsure of what to do to make Rhys feel better.

Rejection  _hurt_. Especially by those who were supposed to love you. Jack knew that all too well.

He sighed, his own voice tight.

“C’mere, you…” Jack reached across to the passenger’s seat, wrapping his arms around Rhys’ shoulders and pulling him into a tight hug. It seemed lame, just a band-aid to slap over what was obviously a much bigger problem, but Rhys responded almost instantly, his tense body melting into Jack’s embrace.

“I’m sorry they made you feel this way, pumpkin,” Jack pressed his lips against the side of Rhys’ head, planting a kiss there. He rubbed his hand slowly up and down the young man’s back, giving him an assuring pat. He usually saved this kind of overt, sustained affection for after sex, when Rhys was too dazed or sleepy to note it, but he’d be a pretty terrible boyfriend if he just left Rhys hanging while he was breaking down.

But the hug seemed to do the trick. Rhys’ harsh sobs gradually trailed off to little sniffles and whimpers, trembling back slowly relaxing underneath Jack’s hands. Rhys nuzzled against him, probably wiping snot and tears off on Jack’s work blazer, but he’d been meaning to take it to the dry cleaner’s anyway, so no harm no foul.

“It’s dumb…I should have known they wouldn’t understand,” Rhys chuckled miserably as he finally pulled away from Jack’s shoulder, still keeping close as he rubbed his eye with the side of his hand. Jack’s arms slipped down to the young man’s waist as he sat up properly. Rhys’ hair was a bit of a mess, mussed up from the hug. He looked a lot younger than usual with his hair out of its usual slicked back style. More vulnerable.

Jack had the sudden urge to hug him close again.

“Some people never understand,” he spoke carefully, one hand rising from Rhys’ waist to brush the warm, delicate skin beneath his tear tracks.

“I…I guess so…” Rhys sighed, eyes downcast. “I guess I was pretty stupid.”

“Hey. Come on.” Jack leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. “You know you’re not stupid, pumpkin. Not in the slightest. Them not wanting to understand who you are doesn’t make you  _stupid_.”

Anger bubbled up in the pit of Jack’s stomach, spilling over in the firm conviction of his voice. He stared right into Rhys’ face, as if the steeliness in his gaze could smooth out the lines of distress in the boy’s expression.

“Listen.” And Jack hoped Rhys’ really was. “If they don’t wanna see what an amazing guy you are, if they don’t wanna accept  _everything_  about you, then as far as I’m concerned,  _they’re_  the idiots.”

Rhys breathed heavily through his nose, taking a couple moments to calm further, before he finally lifted his eyes to meet Jack’s.

“Thank you…and thank you for picking me up.” Rhys’ hands carefully moved to rest against Jack’s shoulders, rubbing the material of his blazer between his fingers. “I…honestly, I was almost ready to just suck it up and take a cab…”

“All the way to my place?” Jack tutted. “Baby, that’d be like thirty bucks. That’s like, your monthly ice cream budget.”

“I’d rather give up ice cream for a whole year than stay there for another minute,” Rhys admitted with a weak snort, before slowly unwinding from around Jack and retreating back into his seat. He kept their hand laced together, however. Jack squeezed it softly.

“Ice cream sounds like a good idea, though. What do you say?” Another cheesy fix, sure, but Rhys’ eyes brightened at the suggestion.

“Can I get whatever I want?” He asked as Jack started the car, steering the wheel with one hand as he made his way back to the main road. He smirked sidelong at Rhys, leaning in to peck a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Whatever you want, sweetheart.”


End file.
